The Pakistanis have recorded three wins in a row but so far their opening batsmen — Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad — have failed to click and for the Pakistan captain that’s a big cause for concern.
“We need a good start, our starts are not good considering the kind of players we have,” said Afridi, who almost single-handedly won Thursday’s match against underdogs Canada with 5-23 after Pakistan were bowled out for just 184.
In their first three World Cup matches here, the Hafeez-Shehzad partnership has just contributed a total 78 runs which is quite alarming considering the fact that two of Pakistan’s matches were against minnows Kenya and Canada.
Pakistan have the option of changing the opening combination by bringing in the experienced Kamran Akmal at the top but Afridi said that the tour selection committee will look into the matter ahead of Tuesday’s match against the Black Caps.
Afridi’s Pakistan beat the Black Caps 3-2 in their One-day International series in New Zealand last month but Afridi believes that the result won’t have much impact on their World Cup clash.
“I think that was a ODI series and this is the World Cup,” said Afridi.
“That (win) is behind us. Every team has come here well-prepared. I won’t say which team is favourite because the team that plays well on the given day will win. We will go all out for a win because it’s a very important game.”
On Thursday Afridi became the first bowler to capture three successive four wicket hauls in a World Cup and is now the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 14 victims.
But the flamboyant allrounder has so far failed to impress with the bat. Is Afridi’s lack of form with the bat bothering him?
“I am doing my best in batting and bowling and hope that I will come good in batting too,” he said. “I always focus on my bowling first because that’s my strength.”
Since the tournament began, Afridi has taken up the role of a very demanding captain and is always seen running from one teammate to another with advice or instruction during the course of a match. In fact one of his senior players — Shoaib Akhtar — even decsribed him as somebody who is really ‘hyper’.
“As their captain, I can’t just stand there and wait because then the entire team will be affected,” smiled Afridi.
Afridi, 31, has picked up almost half the wickets for Pakistan in their last three games — a performnace that is beginning to raise question marks over the performance of the rest of the bowling attack.
“Personally I always try to give my my best,” he said. “The coaches too are helping the bowlers and we’ve been taking wickets whenever we’ve needed them.”
